'Robocop' Ray Mallon is asking for more 'stop and checks ' by the police to prevent crimes

When you are a police officer you need to have courage. I see a lot of good cops who want to do the job.

They want to make a difference and protect the community, but they don’t have leaders instilling them with the confidence they need.

Police forces around the country have lots of managers, but not a lot of leaders.

Leadership is easy when you lead people where they want to go, whereas real leadership is leading people where they don’t want to go.

We need to have “stop and check”, which is different to “stop and search”.

PC Kevin Sutherland on shortages in Hartlepool on budget cuts

There’s nothing wrong with police officers stopping aggressive hoodlums at 3am to ask them what they are up to.

If the police actually stop and check criminals — by which I mean asking questions and giving them a pat down rather than a full body search — they will cease carrying screwdrivers for burglaries or knives for attacks.

Stop and search became a politically incorrect term, but I think stop and check has an important place in keeping our streets safe, because it will control the behaviour of criminals.

Remember: Local officers in your neighbourhood know exactly who the crooks are.

In Hartlepool, I knew every last one of them.

But instead of taking responsibility for the problems on our streets, many chief constables are blaming the Government and a lack of resources.

'Stop and search' became a politically incorrect term but according to Ray Mallon it will 'control the behaviour of criminals '

It’s always been the case that police forces absorb money like a sponge absorbs water, and simply giving them more money does not make them more effective. They need to get rid of duplication. You don’t need officers to go out in pairs all the time, but just when it is necessary.

You can also take some officers away from specialist units, such as the CID and community support, which are important but should not be the top priority.

When I was detective superintendent in Hartlepool we wanted no fewer than 20 front line officers on every shift, because it reduced crime.

In Middlesbrough we reduced CID from 36 to 24 and gave 12 officers back to uniform. It reduced crime.

A chief constable has to decide whether their priority is for their officers to act as social workers or to deal with 999 calls. The Conservative

Party speaks of reducing bureaucracy, yet there is more administration than ever.

Of course, money will help and the Home Secretary does need to resource the police properly. But he also needs to take the fear out of policing.

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Lots of police tell me they are terrified of the The Independent Office for Police Conduct, which handles complaints against officers.

In my day I wanted to lock people up and if that got me into trouble, so be it.

But what we have now is cops shackled by bureaucracy, political correctness, very little leadership and feeling at risk of getting into trouble if they actually get stuck in.

Ray Mallon, a former detective superintendent in Hartlepool, was nicknamed Robocop for his zero- tolerance approach to policing which reduced crime in the town by 35 per cent, before serving as mayor of Middlesbrough for 13 years.